Homeless Services

McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Act
The McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Act is a federal law that ensures immediate enrollment and educational stability for homeless children and youth. McKinney-Vento provides federal funding to states for the purpose of supporting district programs that serve homeless students.

Defining Homelesses
The McKinney-Vento Act defines homeless children as “individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence.” The act provides examples of children who would fall under this definition:
• Children and youth sharing housing due to loss of housing, economic hardship or a similar reason
• Children and youth living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or campgrounds due to lack of alternative accommodations
• Children and youth living in emergency or transitional shelters
• Children and youth abandoned in hospitals
• Children and youth awaiting foster care placement
• Children and youth whose primary nighttime residence is not ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation (e.g. park benches, etc.)
• Children and youth living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations
• Migratory children and youth living in any of the above situations
For questions about the McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Act, please call Greg Swartz at 509-464-5526 or e-mail at greg.swartz@dpsdmail.org

Homeless Students Rights & Enrollment Services

Deer Park School District will work with homeless students and their families to provide stability in school attendance and other services.

Special attention will be given to ensuring the appropriate enrollment to support continuous attendance of homeless students not currently attending school.

To the extent practical and as required by law, homeless students will be provided educational services for which they are eligible, including comparable preschool programs, Title I, similar state programs, Special Education, vocational and technical education programs, gifted and talented programs and school nutrition programs

For further information or to ask for assistance, please call Greg Swartz at 509-464-5526 or e-mail at greg.swartz@dpsdmail.org